World Wide Rave

World Wide Rave from Wilson Piedmont Glacier, Marble Point, Antarctica

This was taken at the Wilson Piedmont Glacier at Marble Point, off the Ross Sea in Antarctica by Keri Nelson who lives nearby.

I met Keri via Facebook by way of Twitter. Let me explain because this is one of those "power of Twitter" stories. I sent out a tweet on December 30, 2008 asking my followers if anyone knew someone in Antarctica. Several people responded with leads including Brenda Haines who said her friend Keri lives there. I traded a few Direct Messages on Twitter with Brenda and within a few hours had a connection to Keri via Facebook where she agreed to help. A photo was sent by way of the U.S. Air Force via New Zealand and less than a month later a Keri sends us this terrific photo!

I'm so jazzed to get a photo from Antarctica because now we have all seven continents represented in World Wide Rave photos. Thank you Keri (and Brenda).

Keri says: "I'm basically doing grunt work in Antarctica. In real life I am an RN and former TV reporter. I'm just trying to have as many careers as possible! This photo was actually taken on the continent. Most folks here land at McMurdo, which is actually on Ross Island, not the continent proper."

Keri has two interesting blogs, although she doesn't update as much during the Antarctic summer. "I haven't updated in ages," she says. "I'll probably start once winter starts here (March) when things slow down a little and I have a bit more time."

Keri's Excellent Adventures at McMurdo Station, Antarctica
Keri's Excellent Adventures (for kids)

I love the blog Keri writes for kids.

Keri answers questions from school children such as Tanner, who asks: "Do you ever see penguins?"

Keri answers (with a photo): "It's funny you ask! I just saw some penguins the other day! This doesn't happen all the time here, so I was very lucky to see them. These are Emperor penguins. They are the same kind of penguins you would see if you watched the movie March of the Penguins, or Happy Feet. They are 3-4 feet tall, and weigh 80-90 pounds. There are smaller penguins here, called Adelie penguins."

A World Wide Rave at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia

Yuri Afanasov sends us some great photos from St. Petersburg, Russia. I've got my favorite here, but you can see more on Yuri's Flickr page.

Yuri is a PR student at the St. Petersburg State University and he will graduate in June, 2009. His degree research is in the use of the Internet and Social Media in Public Relations. He also works at eMarka, and agency that specializes in Internet PR.

"I made photos with my friend on January 27, 2009," Yuri says. "It's the 65th anniversary of the final lifting of the World War II Siege of Leningrad (Saint Petersburg)."

Marketing Over Coffee serves up tasty goodness each week

My friends John Wall and Christopher Penn meet every Wednesday morning at 5:30 AM to create the Marketing Over Coffee podcast.

Yeah, that's really early.

The podcast has become a World Wide Rave as many marketers listen weekly to hear their thoughtful (and sometimes hilarious) take on the world of Marketing.

Christopher is on the left and John on the right.

AudioBrain creates music for the most watched event in U.S. television history

Audiobrain is in the fascinating and little understood business of sonic branding. They create and manage music and sound for companies like NBC, Virgin Mobile, Microsoft, and McDonalds.

The team served as NBC's Music Supervisors for their Beijing Olympic Games Broadcast. This was AudioBrain's fourth Olympics collaboration with NBC, and without question the largest undertaking to date. The music initiative was nearly 2 years in planning, and included musical content procurement from publishers, labels and artists, consulting on the music system design and information organization, and creative support to NBC's producers both on-site at the Games in China and at NBC in New York, as they ran 24/7 music operations in both locations.

The Beijing Olympic coverage was the most watched event in U.S. television history, and the largest undertaking in the history of broadcasting – certainly a World Wide Rave. The networks of NBC Universal aired 3,600 hours of coverage from Beijing - more than the combined total of every previous Summer Games broadcast in the U.S. The coverage aired on 7 networks: NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, USA, Oxygen, Universal HD, and Telemundo, and there were 2,200 hours of live streaming broadband video available on NBCOlympics.com.

That's a lot of music!

Pride of lions World Wide Rave near Polokwane, Limpopo, South Africa

Nico Prinsloo sends us a series of videos and photos that were taken at Ranch Lions and Wild Things outside Polokwane in Limpopo, South Africa.

This is so freakin' cool!!

The lions live in the wild and were trained by Viv Bristow, a Zimbabwe farmer. Nico says: "Viv Bristow had to flee with his lions and elephants after his farm was taken over by war veterans. Bristow provides lions, elephants and other animals for film makers and his animals have appeared in many local and international films. The person holding the poster is Frank Kasakamula, manager at Ranch Lions & Wild Things. Tourists can go on lion tours and see the lions in their natural surroundings, although visitors are not allowed to mingle with the lions as we did for these images."

Thanks to Viv and Frank for this special treat! And thanks to Nico for setting it all up. Nico and Mike Prinsloo are involved with promoting Polokwane, South Africa. Nico, who moved online from newspapers is known on the Net as NicP.

Wow! The video below is one of the most remarkable thing I've seen in months. Please watch to the end (it is less than a minute). For an additional video, please see the Polokwane YouTube channel and for additional photos (including more shots of the cute lion cubs), please check out the Polokwane Flickr page.

World Wide Rave with Women in Business Connection, Boston

Yesterday I spoke to Boston's Women in Business Connection group. At the end of the gig, we posed for a photo. Thank you all very much.

Techbuilt

A World Wide Rave with Paul Teutul of Orange County Choppers

How about this cool photo of Paul Teutul Sr., founder of Orange County Choppers! Paul, together with his sons, created a World Wide Rave in 2002 when they became the subjects of the popular reality TV series American Chopper.

Paul's book The Ride of a Lifetime: Doing Business the Orange County Choppers Way will be published by Wiley in March. Wiley is also publishing World Wide Rave in March. Thank you Paul. Good luck with your book.

World Wide Rave at the site of the Shot Heard Round the World

On a frigid January afternoon, my friend Jonathan Kranz and I went to the Lexington, MA town green to talk about a World Wide Rave from 234 years ago.

On this spot, the American Revolution was triggered. Townspeople were alerted to the coming British Regulars as Paul Revere rode from Boston through several towns including Lexington and Concord. The first shot was fired here, and a pre-Web World Wide Rave was triggered.

Thank you Jonathan for shooting and editing this short film. For better quality, watch on YouTube in HD.

World Wide Rave (and Dracula) at Slains Castle, Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Eugenie Verney sends this very cool photo taken of her daughter holding a World Wide Rave poster in her teeth at Slains Castle, just north of the village of Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where they live.

Eugenie writes: "The village of Cruden Bay and the English town of Whitby, North Yorkshire, fight over whose landmark was the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. We obviously claim it's Slain Castle; the people of Whitby say it was their St Mary's Churchyard. What is certain is that Stoker visited Cruden Bay several times in the 1890s, staying in the Kilmarnock Arms hotel, and got to know the area well. At that time Slains Castle was still a private home, perched on cliffs above the unforgiving North Sea. It is now a ruin and its future remains unsure. There are mixed feelings about this locally - personally I would prefer to see the site adopted as a national monument and the ruins left as they are."

A World Wide Rave at La Casona del Museo, Bogota, Colombia

Felix Alvarado tales us to La Casona del Museo, in Bogota, Colombia that he manages. The facade of La Casona del Museo is an important cultural location in the city. Originally a house, it was built in 1780 and delivered as dowry to a Monastery by its original owner. Since then, the building has been used as a hotel, school, and a restaurant.

Felix says: "As the building was about to become a ruin, it was rescued and I restored it as a high quality center for handicraft. In the photo, I am with a young lady in typical Colombian dress. The Colombian hat I am wearing, a sombrero voltiao and my Mochila, were both made by Colombian craftsmen."